Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse

As it had begun raining, Cyanide decided to take some cover underneath the canopy of a nearby closed-down building, where the mutants roaming the streets could not see due to the angle and positioning of the structure.

The sign on the building had long been worn away and the interior was completely blocked off by black curtains, so there was no way to tell what this store was once for. All Cyanide knew was that this was very isolated in the city, hidden within some slums.

Cyanide also noticed that, in the rain, the mutants' movements dulled, slowing down by even more than they already were — assuming they hadn't detected prey, anyway. If they did, their speed was a whole different story, even for mere Stage Ones.

This was a good opportunity though, for Cyanide to take a short break and think about what to do next.

"Cyanide, what's the plan from here on out?" Luna asked, her holographical figure appearing beside her creator's sitting-down figure.

"Survival," Cyanide answered briskly. "First things first… I'll need to secure myself a good hideout. It should have easy access to food, clean water, and be suitable as a warm shelter. And… most importantly, it should be easy to defend, should the need arise."

"Hm…" Luna fell into thought, then, after some contemplation, spoke again. "According to the criteria you just described, I believe a convenience store would be an ideal choice. They contain plenty of food and drinks, and are also relatively easy to defend given their small size. Though the food and drinks may be expired…"

"With the technology I've seen so far in this world, I doubt they haven't found a way to persevere food without letting them ever expire," Cyanide replied. "That said… are you able to locate a convenience store nearby?"

"There is a map feature that came with the programming of the Survivor Assistant, but it is locked until you reach Level 5, Cyanide. I can't manually override this — there seems to be some kind of admin controlling it from a higher level of authority."

"So… these A.R.S.A.s are being controlled by a higher entity? Interesting," Cyanide murmured, then turned to Luna again. "It's fine. Once this rain passes, I'll try to find some ammunition for this gun, and maybe a melee weapon. After that, I'll be able to fight the mutants properly, and get to Level 5."

Luna nodded. "In the meantime, I advise taking a look at the Skill Shop, Cyanide. Just for planning ahead."

"Exactly my thoughts. Not bad, Luna."

Luna, hearing this compliment from her creator, smiled wryly and brought up the Skill Shop panel for him. While it loaded the hundreds of possible skills acquirable, Cyanide took the opportunity to inspect the empty gun he held within his hand. It looked quite similar to a Glock 17 from Earth, the type that most police and security officers used.

For such a technologically-advanced world, Cyanide had been expecting a lot more, to be honest. Something more like… laser guns, perhaps? The type seen in sci-fi movies. But realistically speaking, something like that, even with the technology required to construct it, wouldn't have much use.

Yes, they would be cool and have insane destructive power, but what would they use that power for? Killing humans? A normal gun could do the job all the same, with lower production costs and less risk of a malfunction.

Before this apocalypse struck, there were no such things as these 'mutants' running around the world. Normal guns would be more than enough to deal with normal humans… though Cyanide really wished some company had thought of experimenting with lasers. It was certainly still a possibility, one that shouldn't be ruled out just yet.

In any case, now that the Skill Shop had loaded, Cyanide began browsing through it, looking for anything that caught his eye, but Luna made things easier by highlighting certain ones.

"Here, Cyanide. I have compiled a list of skills I believe should be high on your priority list of obtaining, and highlighted them at the top."

Cyanide blinked as three skills in the list suddenly lit up gold and were moved to the top, thanks to Luna. They were [Inspect], [Radar], and [Stealth Takedown] respectively.

"Inspect allows you to view enemies' basic information, such as their level and HP, along with what status ailments they are currently afflicted with," Luna explained. "It is useful for checking a mutant's strength level and deciding whether or not to challenge them — the same theory can be applied to another Survivor as well.

"Also, this skill is something known as a Core Skill," she continued, successfully gaining Cyanide's curiosity. "It doesn't actually require any SP to purchase, and instead automatically unlocks at Level 3. Before then, even if you wanted to purchase it, it would be impossible to do so — that's why I didn't recommend it back there in the basement. There aren't many Core Skills, but this is one of them."

"Huh… neat." Cyanide rubbed his chin. "Radar is self-explanatory, but what about Stealth Takedown?"

Luna opened up the details screen of the skill in question and let Cyanide read over it for himself.

[Skill Information]

[Name: Stealth Takedown 1]

[Type: Active (Melee)]

[Cooldown: 15 seconds]

[Description: Perform a swift and silent execution by choking from behind. This can only work on enemies with a lower level than yourself, and you can only use this skill while stealthed. Enemies must be facing away from you, and you must have a melee weapon.]

[Price: 1 SP]

"… Is this a guaranteed kill?" Cyanide asked hesitantly.

"No, unfortunately," Luna replied. "But there is a high chance of it being a kill. The higher your STR stat and the stronger your weapon, the higher this chance will be. But even if this skill does not kill the enemy directly, it will still damage them by quite a lot."

"I see…"

Of course, he could always choose to spend his SP on something else, as sneaking up on an enemy and taking them out was his line of work anyway. However, he couldn't apply the same theory to mutants as he did to humans. With the [Stealth Takedown] skill, his attacks would be like executes, instantly draining the enemy's HP bar in this game-like world, whereas normally sneaking up on a mutant and attempting to assassinate it will have a high chance of failing. As a result, he decided to purchase the skill anyway.

As Cyanide continued browsing through the skills, the rain slowly faded away. Before long, it had completely stopped, and Cyanide stood up.

"… It's time. Let's go, Luna."

But then, Luna said, "Wait. We should explore this building first. The fact that it's being covered up like this makes it somewhat suspicious. And given its isolated location… this could very well be an illegal weapon shop."

Cyanide paused to think for a moment, then slowly nodded in agreement.

"That is true, but there is no way for me to enter this building as I am right now. If I try to break open through the glass, the noise will undoubtedly attract the mutants here — not to mention the possibility of there being mutants inside as well. I'll need a melee weapon first — a crowbar or something of the sort."

"In that case…" Luna fell into thought. "I believe a factory is our best bet."

Cyanide nodded.. "I believe I saw one on the way here… but it was surrounded by mutants. With my invisibility, though, I should be able to sneak in…"